It may be all over for Ukip, according to party donor Arron Banks
One of Ukip's largest donors has warned that it could be all over for the party as it enters into a fresh leadership contest.
Former insurance broker Arron Banks has helped to bankroll the party since 2014, but asked today if Ukip was finished he admitted: "It could be, it's at a crossroads".
Speaking on BBC Radio Four's Today programme, Banks said he had suspended any donations to the party out of a lack of faith in any of the latest set of leadership candidates as the party again seeks a replacement for Nigel Farage.
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Ukip held its first hustings between the four leadership contenders last night, with deputy leader Paul Nuttall, former deputy party chair Suzanne Evans, Ukip London mayoral candidate Peter Whittle and Welsh councillor John Rees-Evans all taking part.
But this morning, Banks said that front-runner Nuttall lacked the "steel" to sort out the party, and suggested that Farage "maybe" could return to lead the party for a fifth time.
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"I think Nigel was probably a dominant politician of the last 20 or 30 years, and it was losing him [that] has caused the pressure cooker to explode," Banks said.
"I think at the moment we have to wait and see if it stabilises itself and elects a credible leader. I think it's whether Nigel stays engaged with it or not."